Last month, Massachusetts-based Genzyme, which is a part of Sanofi-aventis Group, and Moscow-based HTC ChemRar announced they signed a memorandum of understanding announcing they intend to discuss potential research and development for new innovative medicines. Resulting research programs will be conducted at the Moscow Region biopharm cluster Severnyi, a subsidiary of ChemRar, and will be based on different technological platforms, including small molecules, antibodies and recombinant proteins (enzymes). The signing of the memorandum marks a significant increase in the level of Genzyme’s involvement in the Russian market and is part of an overall trend of U.S. and European companies of deepening their activities in Russia in line with Russia’s plans to modernize its bio and pharma industries.